portabilis

Forms

portābilis (neuter portābile); third-declension two-termination adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin portō (“to carry”) + -bilis.^[2][3][4] De Vaan takes the verb to be probably made from a noun meaning “passage, crossing”, going back to Proto-Indo-European *prto- (“passed, crossed”) or Proto-Indo-European *port-o- (“passage, crossing”).^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's first source is Augustine.^[6] In one of his letters a burden would be made tolerabilius et portabilius, “more bearable and easier to carry”, by his correspondent's presence.^[3][2]

Semantic evolution

Its literal sense, “that can be carried”, appears in the Old Latin version of Proverbs, where sand is said to be hardly portable.^[3] More often it was used figuratively of what can be borne: Sidonius writes Lampridius fuit portandus quidem, sed portabilis, “Lampridius had to be put up with, but he could be”.^[3] The Latin translation of Justinian's Novels uses it of a charge that can be borne.^[3]

In medieval Latin it described portable altars, candlesticks and biers, clothing fit to be worn, and, in the neuter plural, movable goods.^[7] English portable came from it through French in the early 15th century.^[8]

Timeline

• 354–430 AD – Augustine uses the comparative portabilius of a burden.^[3][6]
• c. 431–486 AD – Sidonius calls a difficult man portabilis, bearable.^[3][6]
• 1194 – A council records portable candlesticks.^[7]
• early 15th century – English borrows portable through French.^[8]

Meanings

Adjective

1. That can be carried, portable.^[2][3][7]
2. That can be borne, bearable, tolerable.^[3][9][7]
3. (Medieval Latin) Of clothing: fit to be worn.^[7]
4. (Medieval Latin, neuter plural as noun) Portable goods, movable property.^[7]

Word family

• importābilis

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
5. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
6. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
7. ^ a b c d e f Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
9. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.